Carmelo Anthony is proving he can take a beating on and off the court

He will play for the New York Knicks Thursday against the San Antonio Spurs after missing three weeks with an ankle injury.

He said the injury hasn’t fully healed, that it just feels good enough to get back on the floor.

“If I wait for all the soreness to go away,” he told reporters at Thursday’s shootaround. “I’ll probably be out for a longer period of time.”

He’s also sore about the fact that he’s taking on the brunt of fan frustration about the Knicks poor start. A team that was supposed to compete in the Eastern Conference this season, is 9-21. They have lost three straight games and 4-6 in the past 10 games.

So he’ll shake off both things and try to get the Knicks back on track.

“As far as being fully healthy, I wouldn’t say that. But it feels good enough for me to go out and play the way that I have been playing,” he said.

Here’s what else to watch for tonight:

A potential shootout is scheduled for Miami as the Golden State Warriors come in to play the Heat. The hosts are 14-2 at home this season, averaging 114.2 points per home game. But the Warriors have won six straight games and are the only Western Conference team to win at Miami since the start of last season, at 97-95 in December of 2012.

Not much has gone right for the Memphis Grizzlies this season. On the flip side not much has gone wrong for the upstart Phoenix Suns. But, for the Suns, who have gone 10-3 since December, had one of those losses to the Grizzlies – a 110-91 setback on Dec. 3. The Grizz have gone 6-12 since Nov. 22, when Marc Gasol suffered a sprained MCL in his left knee, the latest was an awful home loss to Chicago on Monday when they committed 21 turnovers. Maybe a few days off helped.

Carmelo Anthony is sore. He will play for the New York Knicks Thursday against the San Antonio Spurs after missing three weeks with an ankle (…)

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